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“I wasn’t fishing for compliments. I know I don’t compare to Tara.”
“No, you don’t. You blow her out of the water. When I was attracted to Tara before, it was all surface. She was shiny and paid me attention and we needed each other for a very superficial reason.”
“Like you and me now?”
He frowned. “Sure, I need you to say nice things about me and you need the Rebels to support the shelter. But if you think I’d go so far as to sleep with you to keep you sweet, then maybe you don’t see me the way I see you.” His arm fell away, and he took a step back. “Once, I thought I could use Tara like that, but I’ve learned my lesson. If you think I’m still a user, then I’m not sure I can change your mind.”
His expression was harsh, but also tempered by hurt. She hated to be the cause of that.
“This is more my problem, Dex. My self-esteem. You’re just so handsome and the minute I see your gorgeous friend, who looks like she had no trouble losing the baby weight, I wonder what you’re doing with me.” She took a breath, ready to be more honest than she’d been in a long time. “After the PR shoot, I expected the video you posted would include me. When it didn’t, I wondered if maybe you didn’t want people to see us together. Of course, we’ve been saying we’d keep quiet about it for all sorts of reasons, and it really wouldn’t look good ahead of your court case to see us get flirty on camera, so I have no good reason to expect?—”
Immediately he was on her, his hands cupping her face. “I wanted to use the video of us together with Bandit, but Sophie said the fans would go negative. Not because of you specifically. They’d go after anyone. I shouldn’t have listened to her, but I was worried they might be assholes and you’d get hurt. And then I figured maybe you didn’t want it out there anyway because everyone would see how into you I am, and you’d be embarrassed.”
Into me? “I wouldn’t be embarrassed.” She hated the secrecy, but only because she worried she would feel foolish when it was over.
He continued. “I would have loved nothing more than to have that video be the one that tells the story. You should see it. It was awesome.”
He dropped his hands and pulled his phone from his sweatpants. Within seconds, they were watching the video footage of the two of them playing with Bandit while they had a fun back-and-forth about the shelter and the work they did.
Maybe she wanted to believe, but what Dex said appeared to be true: in this footage, he was smitten. The fact that he even had the footage on his phone was a story in itself. When Ashley spoke on camera, he listened avidly, his expression curious and focused. It was a shock to see him so taken with her, hanging on every word.
And evidently, she had no problem returning the favor. She wasn’t shy about gazing at him while he spoke or played with Bandit. Who was this woman?
“That’s a great advertisement for the shelter.”
“For the shelter? That’s a great advertisement for us.” He placed the phone down and pulled her close. “I’m not in this for a nice letter to the judge, Ashley. I’m in this for you.”
His kiss took her by surprise, its sheer intensity and depth of feeling. But she shouldn’t be surprised. Dex might have started out as lazy and unwilling at the shelter, but he’d more than made up for it. When Dex cared, he went all in. That was what she was witnessing here: a very engaged man.
Learning this was a revelation.
Ashley looped her arms around his neck and kissed him hard, twining her tongue with his. His “hmm” of pleasure reverberated through her, made her greedy for more. She pressed her body closer and yielded from him a quick intake of breath.
“Oh, your bruise. And we haven’t even talked about your head injury yet.”
“I’m okay.” And to prove it, he lifted her up and walked her to the sofa. “Need you, Ash. Need you badly.”
She was still wearing far more clothes than him, but he fixed that problem in an instant until she was left in only her new lingerie. Pushing his sweats down, he kicked them off and sat back, his erection standing proud.
His eyes went wide on seeing what she wore underneath. “Is this new?”
She nodded.
“Turn around.”
She did, peeking over her shoulder after a few seconds of excruciating quiet. His hand was wrapped around his erection, and he was stroking slowly.
“You like?”
“Your ass looks amazing in that—what do you call it?”
“A hipster.” She ran a hand over the lilac satin, edged with lace. “It’s from Addison Williams’s lingerie line.” Addison was married to Ford Callaghan, one of his teammates.
“Did you buy that for me?”
“For me.” She angled her head. “And for you.”
His little moan of pleasure told her that pleased him. He patted his lap. “Over here, like a good girl.”
